Con Team Hits Elderly, Police Say

January 17, 1986

A confidence team that included a boy about 5 years old used a variety of ruses in recent weeks to enter homes of elderly people on the Near Northwest Side to loot them of about $5,000, police said Thursday.

Two members were involved in a scheme Jan. 5 in which $1,400 was snatched from the pants pocket of an 80-year-old bedridden man who watched helplessly while the robbery occurred, according to police Commander Joseph DeLopez.

The man`s 75-year-old wife was outside, talking to one of the robbers who had lured her out of the house, DeLopez said.

DeLopez said about $5,000 was taken from 12 homes from Dec. 1 to Jan. 5. Most victims lost about $200 each, he said.

DeLopez said the looters gained entry to the elderly people`s homes by posing as gas and electric meter readers or inspectors, or as motorists who had done minor damage to the victims` garage.

In the garage ploy, the homeowner would accompany one of the phony motorists to look at the damage.

In other cases, a boy about 5 years old, would enter the home after asking for a drink of water. Soon, two or three adults would appear, pretending they were seeking the boy.